Universal to revise THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 7 for a January restart

It’s never easy losing an actor, but the harsh reality is that such a loss has a deeper impact on the production of a film, with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Paul Walker’s untimely demise has left the Fast and the Furious franchise in such a predicament, as the actor still had plenty of filming to do before that unfortunate car crash that claimed his life.

And it’s a tragedy that Universal is going to have to find some way to get past and give the actor a send-off in-film that he deserved.

According to THR, Universal Studios has tapped screenwriter Chris Morgan (who has penned all the previous FF movies since Tokyo Drift) to revise the current script, as Walker had only filmed half his scenes before tragedy struck. With $150 million already invested into the film, Universal has come too far to call off the movie and restart from scratch, and will instead need to find a way to work the available footage of Walker into the film.

If the Morgan revisions get approved, filming will begin in January to shoot new content that retires Walker’s character and will alow the rest of the cast and crew to finish principal photography on the film. If Morgan fails however, Universal might have to scrap the movie, which would mean that insurance firm Fireman’s Fund would have to pay out that $150 million investment, which would be the largest claim in Hollywood history.

All this extra work also means that FF7 won’t make the scheduled release date of July 11 2014, a spot which has now been given to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Last Updated: December 12, 2013